1 20 2 https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/9308c47c88074dd96b7ca9ffd643920d.pdf a12b0dfa73c9c8b891eb10f6c20cdbfb PDF Text Text Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a I'information TOP SECRET ftttfttftADO) TO SSREf D8cemb3r 2nd 19S0 REDUtT A SECRET < MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION WITH MR. GORDON ARNESON, December 1st, 1950. Proposed U.S. Strategic Air Command Projects at Goose Bay. Mr. Gordon Arneson, special assistant to the Secretary of State on atomic energy questions, came to see the Canadian Ambassador at his office on December 1st to discuss the channel through which any further , approach from the United States Government to. the Canadian Government on the storage of special weapons at Goose Bay should be made. Mr. Arneson described the arrangements which had been made last August for the temporary stationing of the U.S.A.F. 43rd Bomber Group at Goose which had been agreed by the Canadian Government for a six-weeks period. In connection with this deployment of the Strategic Air Command, a request had been made to the Canadian Government through Air Marshal Curtis for permission to transfer a small number of special weapons, without their nuclear components, for training purposes. Mrl""Arneson explained that the approach to Air Marshal Curtis had been made after the President, in accordance with the provisions of the McMahon Act, had authorized the transfer of a given number of these weapons from the custody of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission to the U.S.A.F. for use by the bomber group at Goose Bay and for similar use by the strategic bomber group stationed in the United Kingdom during the period of emergency. Mr. Arneson also explained that while the selected weapons moved to Goose Bay, numbering eleven, consisted of non-nuclear components only, they did include a charge of about 5,000 pounds of high explosive in each bomb. This charge is a necessary component for the detonation of the weapon. As far a s / 000183 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en verjude la hpi sur Faeces a I'information D -2- As far as the U.S. Government is concerned, information regarding selected weapons was made available to individuals only on a "need to know" basis and under the strictest precautions of security. On the occasion of the request made last August, the U.S.A.F., on receiving the necessary authority from the President, had chosen Air Marshal Curtis as their point of contact in Canada. Mr. Arneson had been told by Mr. Le Baron, Chairman of, the U.S. Military Liaison Committee on Atomic Energy, that permission had been granted for the transfer of the special weapons to Goose Bay by the Prime Minister, after Mr. St. Laurent had been approached by Air Marshal Curtis. The permission by the Canadian Government given last August for the transfer of special weapons to Goose was recognized by the U.S. authorities as being limited to the six-weeks period for which approval had been given for the stationing of the 43rd Bomber Group at Goose. It had also been found that the necessary storage facilities were lacking at Goose, and for this reason urgent request had been made for certain additional construction at Goose at the expense of the United States Government at the end of September. (This .request was contained in a letter from General Walsh to Benninghoff of the State Department dated September 28th, the text of which was transmitted to the Department of External Affairs in teletype Wa-2411 of October 6th.) In the circumstances, the special weapons had to be returned to the United States during the month of October. It was during the transportation of these weapons to the United States that the incident occurred over the St. Lawrence River in which one of the bombs had to be jettisoned and detonated owing to engine trouble in one of the transporting aircraft. Mr. Arneson said he did not know what progress had been made on construction of storage facilities at Goose, but he had been told by the U.S. Defense authorities concerned that almost certainly a request would have to be made again to the Canadian Government, probably next spring, for permission to transfer a limited number of special weapons to Goose and to store them there. With the authority of Mr. Le Baron and the/ 000184 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu d^\a loi surJ'acf/es a I'information -3- and the agreement of the U.S.A.F., Mr. Arneson had come to see the Ambassador in order to find out informally what channel the Canadian Government would prefer to have employed for any further request that might have to be made. Mr. Arneson was told by the Ambassador that he wished to give some thought to this question and probably consult appropriate individuals in Ottawa before making a reply. Mr. Arneson said that the President had appointed a special sub-committee of the National Security Council, consisting of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, to advise him in cases where the Joint Chiefs of Staff might recommend the transfer of special weapons from the custody of the Atomic Energy Commission to the armed forces. He did not know when such a question would have to be considered by the special sub-committee in the future. It would, however, be desirable to learn soon how the Canadian Government might wish to have any request concerning it handled. This memorandum of the conversation was dictated by G. Ignatieff, who was also present at the conversation. gi.gm 000185 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memorandum of conversation with Arneson on December 1 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 02-Dec-50 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived RG25-A-3-b, File number: 50195-40, pt 1 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDAC01853 https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/5cc4aa33bf0af0e280c11bf622406757.pdf 85e5836c3ab1dcc4512f2ee70b39f1fb PDF Text Text Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a I'information Ext. 162A OTTAWA 4. s. FILE r ' * * Letter N o . . 3 0 8 8 , _bte,December .2nd, , 1950 ' $ $ * uf *.* SECURITY V f O t CLASSIFICATION TOP SECRET FROM: THE CANADIA SSADOR, WASHINGTON, D.C. TO: ARY OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, CANADA THE UNDER Reference. Your .Letters. Npsr. D-3376. and.D.-3377. of. .Qc.tpb.er..2.5th. .and... Proposed November 3rd, 1950. Subject:. AV..S... .Strategic. A.ir. C.Qmmand. pro j e.ct.s. at. .Goose. Bay, , Copies Referred To No. of Enclosures 1 Post File No I enclose a Memorandum prepared by Mr. Ignatieff of a conversation which took place in my office yesterday with Mr. Gordon Arneson of the State Department, at his request. From this conversation I was able to get a coherent account of various developments of which I had previously only had fragmentary knowledge. It explained to me for the first time why the concern felt In Canada over the explosion of a bomb jettisoned by a U.S.A.F. bomber a few weeks ago while on a flight from Goose Bay to Maine had not resulted in the receipt of instructions to seek a full explanation from the U.S. Government. 2. After talking to Mr. Arneson I only know with certainty that Air Marshal Curtis and the Prime Minister are informed of the nature of the arrangements made for the temporary storage of special weapons at Goose Bay last August. I assume, however, from the instructions given in the last paragraph of your letter No. D-3376 that you are also aware of these arrangements. It would be helpful if in your reply you could indicate to me what others in Ottawa have knowledge of this very secret matter. At the Embassy it is only known to Mr. Ignatieff, myself, and my secretary, and I shall not mention it to the Chairman of the Joint Staff unless I learn definitely that he has already been informed. 3. You will note that Mr. Arneson1s particular purpose was to establish. the-b.a.s±_.chann,p1 i,„tp,(,em^1 ov for further communications .,j_____ibJj3M^3p4_jBc,t. The art"erna"trrv~es are"a~"Service "channel from the U.S. Air Force to the Chief of the Air Staff or a civilian channel from the State Department to me to you. The State Department would prefer not to use the United States Embassy in Ottawa in this connection. I told Mr. Arneson that on the whole I thought the Prime Minister would prefer the employment of the civilian channel, especially since the decision to seek our concurrence is made personally by the President on the recommendation of the Secretaries of State and Defence and the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. 4. In view of the gravity of the present international situation, I think it desirable that the procedure should be established within the next two or three weeks, although the present plans do not envisage the storage of special weapons at Goose Bay until the additional construction there is available. ^{--^vCC^^—y 000182 w � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from WashDC to External no. 3088 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 02-Dec-50 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived RG25-A-3-b, File number: 50195-40, pt 1 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDAC01854